


Lay Down (Candles in the rain)

by Malcifer



Category: Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Genre: Hanukkah, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28000329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malcifer/pseuds/Malcifer
Summary: This is my first posted fic on here and it’s for the first day of Hanukkah so enjoy!
Relationships: Joe Buck/Rico "Ratso" Rizzo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. Sunday the 7th of December

Rico glared out at the sleet from under the awning he and Joe were sheltering under. Regular snow wasn’t ideal sure but the icy rain drenched their coats, it made his hair damp and the skin on his face and hands numb with the coldness of the wind. He felt Joe shivering next to him more than he saw it, with only that thin suede jacket to keep out the cold it was no wonder. It was only about 3 pm but the long shadows of the tall buildings made it feel later. Rico produced a cigarette and lit it with a match, before offering one to Joe who only became aware of Rico’s offering after the faraway look left his eyes. The cowboy had been staring across the street into a brightly lit and festively decorated shop window. Whole winter scenes had been depicted with the warmly and fashionably dressed, blank-faced mannequins. The entire diorama has been framed with glittering card snowflakes that hung suspended from an invisible wire at different intervals to create the illusion of softly falling snow. 

“Bet it doesn’t even snow in Texas.” Said Rico still staring straight ahead not looking at Joe. 

Joe shrugged. “It does some winters but just doesn’t stick around too long.” 

Rico leaned back against the wall and propped his leg up against it to take the strain off it a little.  
“Huh, no kidding.” 

“Yeah it almost always snows around Christmas, but it goes away after a couple days” Joe frowned, deep in thought. “I just realised that this’ll be the first Christmas I’ve had since after my grandma died.” 

“You have all the trimmings and what have you?” Asked Rico, gesturing expansively with the hand holding his cigarette.

Joe laughed. “No it was usually just the two of us when I was younger, Sally Buck wasn’t no chef so it’d always be a defrosted turkey dinner.” 

Rico’s eyes darted back from the rapidly darkening sky to Joe’s face before glancing away again.  
“Well with my folks, it was kinda different from most people. I mean there were a lot of us sure, but by the time I was born about eight of the older kids had already left.” He took a drag. “That just left...” He paused, brow crinkling with the effort of recollection. “Vittorio, Fabrizio, Sofia, and Leonardo. Way back when my mom was still alive, Christ how old could I have been then maybe five?” 

“Shee-it boy, how many siblings you got?”

“Twelve.” Answered Rico quickly. “Two sisters and ten brothers. But like I said I only really knew four of em, the others were all grown by the time I came along.” He took another drag. “Look you think should head back? The weather’s too bad, nobody’s gonna be looking to get laid in this kinda weather.” 

Joe nodded. “I’m inclined to agree.”  
With that odd pair headed back to their flat, shoulders hunched against the freezing rain. 

“So what was it you were saying that your folks did at Christmas?” Said Joe, gripping his hat so that the wind didn’t blow it off.

Rico waved dismissively. “I’ll tell you inside.”

By the time they made it back to the X-flat, it was coming dark. Rico braced one his hands on the wall at the foot of the stairs and stood for a second, eyes closed.

“You alright boy?” Said Joe, touching his shoulder lightly.

Rico opened his eyes again. “Yeah just psyching myself up to walk up these goddamn steps.” 

About 10 minutes passed before they both made it up the stairway and entered the flat, it was now nearly full dark outside. Rico went about finding and lighting all the candles before slumping down in the armchair and Joe made his way over to the stove and began making some coffee in a pot. 

“So you were gonna tell me about your folks?” Joe asked again.

Rico tiredly rubbed a hand across his face.  
“Yeah right, so my mom was sick a lot. I don’t know what it was, maybe something chronic, either way, she spent a lot of time in bed. But one year I remember - and this must've been a really long time ago because it was before I got sick even - we uh did Hanukkah and lit a menorah, it was nice too I think she’d brought it over to the states with her y’know.” He stopped and looked pensive.

“And then after she died we didn’t do that anymore, my dad he just didn’t wanna do it. Which I think pissed off some of my brothers and my sister Sofia especially because I remember her and my mom being very alike, so when she left she took this nice menorah with her.” Rico chuckled to himself.

Joe poured the coffee into mugs and brought one over to Rico.  
“So you Jewish?” He asked. 

Rico glared up at Joe.  
“So I what if I am. What’s it to you cowboy?” He snapped defensively.

“Hey now, I’m just asking cause I thought you were catholic.” He replied and handed Rico his coffee. 

Rico lightly swayed his head from side to side.  
“Well, my old man was catholic but my mom was Jewish which meant a couple of the older kids knew more about all of that than me.” 

“So you just do Christmas after that?” Asked Joe sitting down in the opposite chair. 

“Yeah but as I said some of my brothers and sisters didn’t really like that so much.” 

“When is-'' Joe closed his eyes with concentration. “-Hanukkah anyway?”

Rico tried to hide his smile. “Well, what day is it today, Sunday? That’s day four right there, we’re already halfway through.”

“Huh. So does it go on for what, a couple days?” Asked Joe now, genuinely interested.

After taking a sip of his coffee, Rico responded. “Eight days yeah: you light some candles, eat some fried food, say some prayers but I don’t really remember them too well.” 

“We can do that if you like.” Said Joe slightly giddy over the novelty of it all.

Rico looked at Joe sceptically over the rim of his mug.  
“You serious?” 

Joe nodded. “Sure.”

Rico gave a small smile.  
“Alright go and get five candles and I’ll show you what we’ve gotta do.”

Joe hopped up from his chair, coffee forgotten and collected five already lit candles. Rico sat and watched him with no small amount of amusement. The cowboy quickly returned to the table, looking expectantly at Rico. 

Rico smiled and extinguished four of the candles leaving only one lit, he then rose and went to the windowsill taking the candles with him. “This one-“ He placed the lit candle in the centre of the windowsill. “-is our Shamash, it lights all the other ones. But first I gotta remember this goddam prayer.” He organised the other four off-white candles to the right side of the Shamash. Joe watched attentively.

“Alright I think I got it after my mom died Sofia and Leo tried to me get to remember some of my prayers; not because either of them were particularly y’know religious or anything they just knew I hadn’t got to know my mom for as long as they had so they wanted me to have this part of her at least.” He cleared his throat and turned away from Joe, slightly emotional and stared out into the darkening gloom of evening. 

“Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav, ve-tzivanu le-had like ner shel Hanukkah.” He recited in a slightly sing-song tone as though remembering it by tune. He took a breath and continued.

“Baruch ata Adoniam Elohenu melech ha-olam she-asa nisim la-avotenu ba-yamim ha-hem ba-zeman ha-zeh.” 

Then Rico picked up the centre candle and lit the furthest two candles.  
“You wanna light some?” He asked turning back around, snapping Joe out of his reverie.

Wordlessly Joe got up and took the candle from Rico, their hands touching for a brief moment.  
“You got cold hands boy.” He mumbled, as he copied Rico’s action and lit the remaining candles.

Rico found himself overwhelmed with a strange tightness in his chest as he watched Joe gently place the Shamash back in the centre, the candlelight turning his blond hair to gold. He also became aware of how close he and Joe were standing to each other. Suddenly Joe turned to him and he jumped.

“It’s nice that we did this.” He said softly.

Rico scoffed and limped back over to the armchair.  
“Yeah but it gets old real fast, besides it’s not even a big deal. I mean there’s better holidays y’know.” He said, sitting down. 

“Still.” Said Joe.

Rico cast a glance over to where Joe was still stood by the windowsill, backlit by the glow of the candles. He thought about how their little flat must look from the outside, the windows usually dark with great big exes across them, were now illuminated by a row of candles. It didn’t matter that they didn’t have a fancy menorah or anything, he’d remembered his prayers and they’d lit the candles; that sounded like a mitzvah in his book.  
“Yeah, it’s nice.” Was all he said.


	2. Thursday the 25th of December 1969

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments here’s chapter 2 Merry Xmas!

It was shaping up to be the coldest winter in recorded history, which was just fucking typical, thought Rico. Him and Joe had heard about it on Joe’s radio, a huge winter storm that had formed over Texas and was due to hit New York bang on the 25th, not just snow either: ice storms, freezing rain, flooding. All of that shit was the last goddamn thing him and Joe needed, Rico thought to himself as he took a drag from his ragged dog-end, ideally we wanna be getting the hell out of here to Florida. Joe had actually managed to make some money this month but it wasn’t much and it always got swallowed up by the expense of day to day living. Back when it was still Hanukkah, Rico had managed to score a couple stale sufganiyot from a deli that were due to be thrown out anyway.

“Don’t seem too bad to me.” Joe had said smiling widely at him with a small amount of powdered sugar around the left side of his mouth, Rico had rolled his eyes and looked away to stop himself doing something dumb like leaning across the table and wiping it off himself. 

They hadn’t eaten good like that in a while, Rico reflected, which was bad because he was always gonna be sick no matter what but they couldn’t afford Joe to get sick as well and not eating properly in this kind of weather certainly wasn’t healthy. He sighed heavily, clearly troubled. Joe stirred beside him in the blanket swamped bed.

“You still awake?” He asked, cracking one eye to look at his bedfellow. “Too cold?”

Rico glanced over at him wordlessly as Joe sleepily, slung a long arm across his chest and pulled Rico into an embrace. 

“Just thinking.” Said Rico, now muffled by Joe’s closeness.

“Well quit it.” Joe murmured into his hair.

“Joe listen to me I’ve got an idea but it’s risky as hell but it means we might be able to get some good food- Joe, you listening to me?” 

But Joe had drifted off completely, alright I’ll tell him in the morning, thought Rico, and allowed sleep to envelop him.

As New York awoke to Christmas morning, a frozen stillness had fallen over the city. There had been no new snowfall but the existing snow banks glimmered crystal white in the cold sunlight, the skyscrapers acting as thousands of mirrors to the frigid metropolis. The reflections of the windows and the ice brought tremendous brightness to Rico and Joe’s squalid little flat. Joe woke shivering with a dozen sharp, shuddering huffs as his lungs took in the freezing air and attempted to huddle up to Rico under the covers. Rico awoke to Joe’s cold cheek against his forehead, groaned in annoyance and looked up at Joe from under his dark eyebrows.

“Morning.” He mumbled, his words soften against Joe’s shirt.

Joe leaned back and looked down at him, his blond hair mussed from sleep.  
“G’morning.” He replied drowsily. “Merry Christmas.” 

Rico gave a tight, embarrassed smile and looked away. “Yeah merry Christmas.” 

While Joe stretched and sat up in the bed, still holding the sheets close to himself for warmth, Rico propped himself up on his elbow and began his pitch.

“Hey Joe I’ve been thinking of a way for us to get some good food for Christmas like, and not have to pay that much if anything for it. You wanna hear it?”

Joe finished stretching and glanced over at Rico warily.  
“This ain’t one of your half cooked schemes is it?” He asked.

Rico looked affronted.  
“When have any of my ideas been half-cooked, I got your laundry cleaned didn’t I? And your hat, and your boots, for what nothing that’s what! Have some faith Joe c’mon.”  
He could have said something a little more mean about how a lot more of his ideas would work out if Joe wasn’t such a dumbass but he needed him in his corner for this to work. 

He watched Joe nodding agreeably, before continuing.  
“Right so here’s my idea-“

After much back and forth arguing, Rico and Joe found themselves standing in the freezing cold, outside the hotel Claridge as it had been crucial to getting Joe to agree to the scheme. 

“Let those bastards deal with a pissed off delivery guy, they deserve it!”

The plan went like this, Joe would call from a payphone outside the hotel, because he sounded the most like a tourist according to Rico and had actually stayed at the hotel so could say things like-  
“Yep room thirty-four, third floor, you go left once you get out of the elevator.”

Rico would watch for the delivery vehicle.  
“It’ll either be a little scooter or a truck, but he definitely won't be on foot not in this weather.” 

Sure enough a sputtering Vespa with a fitted delivery box attached to the back, reading ‘Chang’s’ in large stylised font almost but not quite reminiscent of Chinese script, sped up the road and parked in an alley next to the hotel. Rico motioned to the driver, who was now dismounting with a small bag, the order didn’t need to be big or anything they actually wanted because it wasn’t for them and heading up the steps quickly, clearly wanting to be out of the cold. 

“Come on.” Said Rico simply as Joe and himself quickly but casually made their way over to the bike. Eventually they reached the Vespa. “Keep an eye out.” He instructed as he unzipped the delivery bag.

Joe scanned both ends of the alleyway vigilantly as Rico began to unload as many plastic bags containing takeout, as he could carry.

“Alright take these.” He said handing some bags to Joe. “Now we gotta run like hell.”

Joe and Rico set off towards their apartment at a sprint, Rico lagging behind slightly because of his leg, so Joe hooked a hand under his elbow to keep him moving. Finally they reached the X-flats, thoroughly out of breath but grinning.

Rico rested his back against the chain link fence, chest heaving in exhaustion as he coughed.  
“I think I’m gonna need your help with the stairs.” He said quietly once he’d stopped coughing. 

“Sure thing.” Said Joe softly.

Once inside they laid the bags on the table, it was full dark now but Rico had managed to lift some more candles after they’d nearly melted the old ones to wicks for Hanukkah. In the orange glow they surveyed their bounty of several tinfoil boxes with card lids: one containing spring rolls, another housing fried wontons, a third box of egg rice, a final box of salt and pepper chicken and one can of very cold beer.

Joe gave a whoop that Rico would have usually found gratingly obnoxious, but presently he shared in his enthusiasm.  
“Not bad eh Cowboy?” He said smarmily.

Joe rounded on him grinning and scooped him up his arms in a huge bear hug. Rico felt his feet leave the floor.

“Alright, alright already.” He protested.

Joe spun them together in a circle, before setting Rico back down on the floor and kissing him hard and joyously on the cheek. Joe’s arms still lightly around his waist, Rico braced himself on the sink. His head spun in more ways than one. Joe looked away guiltily, but before he could take his hands away Rico turned Joe to face him and kissed him softly on the mouth. Joe looked taken by surprise but soon grinned and leaned in as about to kiss him back.

“Joe.” Rico said sharply, his face scarlet. “The foods gonna go cold.”

“Oh yeah.” Said Joe, slightly dreamily, as though he’d forgotten all about it and kissed Rico in return anyway.

“Joe!”

Joe sniggered. “I know, I know.” And went to sit down at the kitchen table, pouring a portion of the beer half into Rico’s mug, then his. 

Rico sighed heavily through his nose, collected his thoughts and then collected the cutlery. He joined Joe at the table, who was still smiling at him. “We can probably make most of this last until New Years.” He said scooping up a forkful of fried rice.

“Nah.” Joe replied through a mouthful of wonton.

Rico looked at him suspiciously. “Oh what, you gonna eat all of this right now?”

Joe grinned at him. “No it’s just we’ll be in Florida by New Year’s right?”

Jesus I love this big idiot, thought Rico. “Right.” He said and smiled back softly.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to tell me what you think I don’t really write a lot so I’m happy to get feedback :)


End file.
